


Day Ninety-Five || Swing Set

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [95]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 15:39:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18368996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: For quite some time, Hinata has enjoyed her solitude on the playground. Eventually, a new friend appears...but trouble's not far behind.





	Day Ninety-Five || Swing Set

For whatever reason, it was her favorite place.

There were several of them on the large elementary school playground, but she liked this one best. The entire outside sloped downward from the school, and at the very bottom was - in her opinion - the best swingset of them all.

It only had two seats, but that was fine. No one ever sat with her anyway. But that, partly, was what she enjoyed.

Sure, Hinata got lonely. But in a way, it was...nice. To sit at the edge of the grounds and just...watch everyone else. There were those who played tag, those who lined imaginary fortresses with rocks, those who clambered over the various jungle gyms or did flips on the bars. They all laughed and yelled, ran and wrestled.

But it suited Hinata just fine to sit...and swing.

Some days she tried to get as high as she could, imagining one day she’d managed to go all the way around the bar. Others, she’d just sit and rock slightly, daydreaming and watching the other children. Most of them were too loud for her liking. Or asked too many questions. She was content to watch rather than participate, but...no one really seemed to understand that. They called her strange; too quiet; claimed she was spying them and being  _ creepy _ .

They just didn’t understand.

So, every day passed the same, with little Hinata perched atop her swing, quietly enjoying the fresh air and break from her lessons.

But, there came a day where things...changed.

Held back from recess for a moment to help pick up spilled crayons, Hinata jogged her way to the bottom of the slope...only to pause.

...someone was sitting on her swing…!

Immediately, she felt conflicted. She knew him - Sasuke, from her class. But they’d never really spoken. She didn’t know him. And even with people she knew, Hinata was  _ painfully _ shy. Asking someone to move - to be steadfast and stick up for  _ her spot _ \- was simply not an option.

...and yet...she wanted it…!

“Um...e-excuse me…”

He was reading a book, glancing up as she spoke.

Fingers fiddled, anxious and unsure what to say. “C...can I…?”

“You wanna sit with me?”

Jolting a bit as he interrupted, she paused. He...asked her to join him? Pale eyes glanced over to the second swing. Well...it wasn’t the one she always sat on. But…?

“O...okay.” Hesitating a moment, she then took a few steps.

“Sorry...I was trying to hide.”

Another pause. “H...hide?”

Sasuke pouted, going back to his book. “This girl won’t leave me alone. M’trying to give her the slip.”

Oh! So that was what he was up to. No one ever came this far - not that she had ever seen. Blinking, Hinata considered that. “...it’s okay. She...she probably won’t find you here.” Looking back to the swing, she gingerly took her seat. Well...it felt the same. It would probably be fine.

“You’re here every day, aren’t you?”

“...y-yes,” Hinata admitted after a lengthy pause. Was he going to call her weird?

“It’s nice out here. Not as loud as the rest of the playground.”

...oh! Perking up, Hinata gave him a glance. “You...y-you can come back any time!” He seemed quiet, what with his book. Surely he wouldn’t interrupt her contemplations, would he?

Well...so long as those girls didn’t find him. They might bring trouble. Or, rather... _ be _ trouble.

Sasuke seemed to consider that before looking up. “...okay.”

So, a new tradition began.

Every recess, the pair would bolt to the bottom and take up their swings. Most days, Sasuke brought a book, reading silently as Hinata either sat still, or took to her trying to wrap around the bar. Then, eventually, he started trying it too.

“You aren’t scared of heights, Hinata?”

“Hm...no. I t-think it’s fun…!”

“But what if you fall?”

“I won’t fall!” She was, after all, a  _ professional _ swinger. She could outswing anyone!

She’d just...never needed to prove it.

Not until a certain someone finally found Sasuke’s hiding place.

“There you are!”

Both children looked up, and then balked. A rosette girl strutted up to the swingset, putting hands on her hips. “Sasuke, are you hiding back here?”

Lifting his book as though to hide, he pouted at her. “...yes.”

“Why?” She glanced over, and then frowned, nose wrinkling. “Why are you with the weird girl? Don’t you know she’s weird?”

“I like Hinata. She’s nice. And she doesn’t try to kiss me.”

Jolting, Hinata glanced over. Did Sakura really…?

“But I like you, Sasuke!” The newcomer gave a stomp of her foot, hands curling into balls at her sides and giving a pout. 

“I don’t like you back, Sakura. Go away!”

“No!” Looking back to Hinata, she pointed. “Get down! I want a turn to swing with Sasuke!”

Gripping the ropes tighter, Hinata put on a brave face. “N...no!”

“That’s not fair! Get down!”

“No!”

With that, Sakura began to stomp her way over.

So Hinata did the only thing she could do: she started to swing.

“Stop! Hinata,  _ stooop! _ ” Trying to reach but jumping back as not to get kicked, Sakura only got more and more frustrated. “You’re being mean!”

“Leave her alone!” Sasuke insisted. “She was there first!”

All the while, Hinata kept kicking her legs, swinging higher and higher. She wouldn’t let this girl bother Sasuke! If she kept going, surely Sakura would give up and leave. Right?

Wrong.

“I said get OFF!” Trying to shove her as she passed by, Sakura managed to catch her with a push. Momentum shifted to one side, Hinata was thrown from the swing...and crashed into the gravel that surrounded the swingset.

“HEY!”

Too surprised to even cry out, Hinata landed with a thump and a roll. Rocks dug into her palms and knees. Even her brow, as she tumbled, took a beating. Coming to a stop, she groaned and sat up, wincing as she spied the gravel now stuck in her skin. Tears began to bead along her lids.

“Sakura, what did you do…? What did you do?!”

Clearly horrified, she took a step back. “I...I-I didn’t mean to…!”

“GO AWAY!” Shoving her, Sasuke made her stumble before breaking into a run, crying and retreating back toward the school.

Moving to Hinata’s side, Sasuke hesitated at the sight of blood and bits of rock. “...oh...uh...w-what should I do?”

“I...I n-need to...g-go to the n-nurse. It s-stings, Sasuke…!”

“I know...uh…” Carefully, he took her by the forearms, her hands too roughed up to grip as he pulled her to her feet. “Can you walk…?”

“Y...yeah…” Hobbling as best she could, Hinata leaned against him as they made their way back to the front doors and toward the office.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttering about, Shizune quickly ushered her into the little room for hurt students, carefully washing out all the scrapes and getting them bandaged. “Hinata, what happened?”

A pause. “...I...I fell o-off the swings.”

“Oh my...you really must be more careful!”

In the doorway, Sasuke made to protest...but silenced at Hinata’s glance. For a moment he looked as though he’d tattle anyway...but then deflated.

“There we go...I’ll make a note for you to take home for your father to tell him what happened. Sasuke, please help Hinata get to class - the bell will ring any minute now.”

“Yes ma’am.”

With her note and her guide, Hinata left the office, still limping.

“...are you okay?”

“...yeah. I-I’ll be fine.”

“Why didn’t you tell her it was Sakura?”

“...I don’t know.”

“But it was  _ her _ fault!”

“I know. But maybe if I’m nice, a-and don’t tell...she’ll leave you alone.”

Sasuke huffed a short breath. “...she better. C’mon.” Carefully, he put her arm around his shoulders, helping her walk back to their classroom just as the bell rang.

Maybe, for a while...she’d just sit on the swings.

**Author's Note:**

> Guh, long day, this is late @~@ Gonna be brief cuz I need SLEEP.
> 
> Some wee kidling fluff...cuz reasons. I thought about doing it in canon with Naruto's swing, but...meh. I actually had my own elementary schoolyard in my mind while writing this. There was a swing set at the bottom by the monkey bars and an old, empty gravel pit. I'd hang out there with all my guy friends as the outcast group. So maybe I borrowed a bit from real life x3
> 
> Anyway, I'm v tired and v burnt out, so...that's all I got lol - but either way, thanks for reading~


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